Sith'ari
Bane and Vitiate
Naruto had mixed feelings of the event currently displayed in front of him. On one hand, it was a rare spectacle to see two legendary figures meet and argue with each other, so he could count himself lucky. On the other hand, these two Sith were some of the most notorious and powerful Sith in galactic history, and angering them would be suicidal.
"You think you are the master here, Bane? You could not even win against your apprentice," Vitiate said.
"And that's how it was supposed to be. At least I ensured that each newer Sith would be stronger than the last. Your Sith was all but weak," Bane countered.
As the two legendary Sith continued to argue about who was better to take him as their apprentice. Naruto began to construct a question inside of his head.
'Why would they want an apprentice, and now that I think about it, why did my master want me as an apprentice?'
It was true, he never really asked because he never thought about it. Now, however, he wondered why. Why would Sith want an apprentice. To pass down the Sith Order? Did they not value themselve above all, even above the Order?
He needed to ask his master later for the answer, but for now he had to find a way out of this situation.
'Let's start with refusing politely. Then let's see where that will take us,' he thought
'And you better be careful kid. You can't attack them physically.' Naruto nodded to that.
"I am sorry to interrupt, Lord Bane," he said, catching both lords' attention. "But as I said to Lord Vitiate before, I already have a master."
"Then, pray tell, boy," Bane said in a rather threatening manner. "Who is this master of yours?"
"Lady XoXaan, one of the Exiles and one of the founders of the Sith Order" He said. The two dark lords did not seem to be surprised, however.
"So Lady XoXaan is taking on an apprentice now, eh?" the Sith Emperor said as he stroked one of his cheek tendrils. "Hmm, I respect the dark founder enough, but truly, boy, have you not considered defecting to other masters?" the pureblood Sith asked, obviously believing he could persuade the blonde to change his allegiance, but that would not happen. [1]
"Like I said before, Sith Emperor, I am only… loyal to my master." Naruto had to admit he felt a bit strange saying that he was 'loyal.' After all, one of the most common Sith qualities was backstabbing.
"Loyal? A strange quality to find in a Sith, and a weakness as well," Bane commented. "Then again, you got a blaster shot to the arm without any protection and are still able to move easily, so it was already impressive. Still, why would you have such thing as 'loyalty'?" Now Naruto began to worry. The two Sith began eyeing him for the answer.
While he doubted giving them an unsatisfying answer would make them kill him, it would surely guarantee he would never earn their respect, and that was not a good thing. He needed to think of an answer, the answer that would satisfy them and make sure that the two lords would not harm him.
He thought for a second, trying to find the best answer he could possibly think in such short time. Then it came to him. An answer, not perfect, but one that might be good enough to meet the two lords' expectations.
"'Peace is a lie, there is only passion,'" Naruto said, which seemed to confuse the two lords.
"What did you just say?" Vitiate asked.
"'Peace is a lie, there is only passion.' It was a phrase of the Code of the Sith, but I am sure you already knew about that. What I am saying here is that my loyalty to Lady XoXaan was not from the training she put me through but from my own passion." The two Sith stayed silent as the blonde continued.
"She found me when I was but a weak and pathetic kid, fed with lies and abuses from those around me. She showed me the truth and offered me the chance of revenge, and not only that, but she also nurtured me, taught me and… cared for me as if she was my mother." While in truth he probably wouldn't say she 'care' about him, he did think of her as a mother figure. She was, after all, the only person who ever raised him properly without unreasonable abuses.
"So for those reasons, I will be loyal to her for it is what I want. It's my business, my need, my…passion. I do what I want and believe what I want, even if it is a weak belief. I followed my passion, and nothing is going to change that. And isn't that the way we're supposed to be? Following our passion in power, in fortune or even in love? I did just that my lords, and I did not regret it," he finished. The two lords continued to stare at him in silence. "Now, if you do not mind, I will take my leave," he said and gave a bow to the two lords before walking out as fast as he could with Zedra.
xxxx
Naruto arrived back his home. Whether he'd failed at his mission or not would depended on his master. The sun of Korriban was almost set, which mean his master was expecting him.
As soon as he stepped into the tomb, the ghost of his master appeared. She observed him thoroughly as she always did.
"Have you succeeded at your task?" she asked him plainly. Naruto sighed once before replying.
"No, master. I have failed." As the last word left his mouth, he began to feel a shiver down his spine.
"Strange. Did I not teach you how to dispel a Sith's enchantment?" his master said coldly. She did teach him that, so he could not excuse himself with 'I couldn't dispel it' or ' it's too hard', or by the fact that he did not interact with it in the first place. Naruto took a deep breath. He believed that he was about to do the stupidest thing in the Sith's history, and maybe in this galaxy's history. He was going to tell the truth.
"Master, during my journey I encountered many unexpected things. If you allowed me to expla-" He was cut by XoXaan.
"Are you trying to justify your own failure?" she asked coldly.
"No… There are no excuses. But I would like to tell you the reason why, so you could use it to pass a proper judgment down on me," he finished.
"The ends justify the means, apprentice. Not only in success, but in failure as well," she said to him. Naruto closed his eyes. It seemed he would not be sleeping tonight. "But…" His eyes shot open in surprise. "I would like to hear this story of yours before I carry out your punishment"
Naruto looked at his master thoughtfully for a second before catching his senses and explaining. He told her his story, started after he left the tomb, up to the point where he made an excuse to avoid the two Sith lords. He noted that his master, for the first time, was surprised by his speech on passion and loyalty.
"…and I came back here as soon as I could." He finished his long tale, and steadied himself.
"Very well. Now that that is finished, let's go on with your punishment." Naruto prepared himself, like every other time his master punished him. Zedra was in the corner looking at him with worry in her eyes; they were friends after all.
His master's hand began glowing with the blue light of lighting. As she slowly extended her hand towards him, the apprentice closed his eyes and prepared for pain. XoXaan unleashed her lighting.
xxxx
Vitiate had to admit, he had never seen anyone like the boy he encountered today. He had met 'good' people before, even among his own Sith, but this boy was different. Not only did he possess some qualities that even 'good' Sith would not have, he was also able to justify those beliefs with the Sith code, passion mainly.
And in many ways, he was right. Every Sith thought of passion as 'passion for power', but there was no clear line that stated it. The best example of this would be Darth Revan, a Jedi turned Sith turned Jedi; the boy would surely fall into the same category as him.
But now the new question had arrived. Should he try to persuade the boy further to be his apprentice? One might ask, why would a Sith lord, with almighty power, want to take some boy as an apprentice? Well, the answer to that question was…
xxxx
Bane had to admit, the boy that he met today boy had some guts to try justifying a weak quality with Sith philosophy. Nevertheless, the boy did have a point in his speech. That didn't mean Bane had to like it. Loyalty was a tool, the most humane of tools, but a tool nevertheless.
Yet this boy was obviously strong. No doubt he could become a great Sith with proper training, but he still retained this weak quality. Moreover, he was aware of it. Bane would never understand someone like him. Maybe the dark exiles did not get rid of all the boy's lightside, or maybe she ensured his loyalty very well.
He might need to rethink whether to try and take the boy as his apprentice. One might wonder why one of the most famous Sith lords would think about a simple boy? the answer to that was…
xxxx
"Will," XoXaan said.
"What was…that…that you…said…master?" Naruto tried to ask as he was panting on the ground after a storm of electrocution his master just finished unleashing upon him. He had to admit, the lighting was not as powerful as he thought it would be, but it still hurt.
"I just said the answer to your question in that tomb. Will," she repeated.
"Will?" Naruto asked.
"Will; the reason why I, and maybe those two Sith lords, wanted you as our apprentice. Sith Order is like a religion, apprentice. Every member sees it differently based on their experience in life. Each Sith have their own belief in this philosophy, like your view on passion, for example." She paused to let Naruto get up from the ground.
"The same goes for Sith masters such as me. We have our own view of the Sith, such as myself who thinks of it as a way to break free from the lie of peace. Like the last line in our code says, 'The Force shall free me.'" She gave another pause.
"Which is one of the reasons we took on an apprentice, to pass on our view and thinking, basically our will. Yes, having the apprentice is also a helpful method to help the masters reach their dream, and it also guarantees that the Sith Order will survive in the future, but as you can see, me and those two are ghosts, so that was not the case." She paused again before resuming.
"There is only one goal left for us: ensuring that the Sith Order survives, not only that it survives, but survives in our vision, no, my vision, and my will will pass on to the new generation. So that my way of Sith will triumph." Naruto looked at his master thoughtfully.
"I do not think you understand it now, but when you become a ghost then you might. When you begin to feel the duty to the Sith Order that you have ignored to pursue your ambition when you were alive and wanted to recreate the order in your own vision. Then maybe you will understand why the dead Sith would try to find an apprentice. To carry on our will, my will, and recreate the Sith to that image."
"But what if there is another Sith's will that was already accepted as 'the Sith'?" Naruto asked his master.
"Then kill them all, kill all of those who follow it, kill the masters, kill the apprentices, kill the agents, kill the slaves, kill even the children. Root out all that you do not want and make your own Sith from that ruin, so that my will, which you inherited, is sure to survive and manifest. Creating the Sith Order in my vision… in the end it is just selfish desire. It's the nature of all beings to have selfish desire. Don't think that just because you possessed some odd qualities, like loyalty, is going to change that. Those qualities of yours might be with you for a while, but being exposed to the dark side ought to fix that, trust me." Naruto nodded to his master weakly. He began to wonder just what kind of Sith he would become in the future.
"By the way, tomorrow you will get back to that tomb and dispel that seal, whether you like it or not, got it?" his master ordered in her cold attitude, as usual.
"Yes, master," he said and bowed to his master, who simply disappeared. [2]
xxxx
The next day Naruto went back to the academy, much to his fear because of his current condition, still injured from the blaster shot and his punishment last night. If the two Sith Masters decided to do something to him, he would surely die. He also decided to leave Zedra behind because, if the dark lords were there to welcome him and inquire him further, at least he would not have to answer anything about him and Zedra.
However, when he arrived at the tomb, he was greeted by no one. Naruto sighed in relief. It seemed those two lost interest in him after yesterday's events, which gave Naruto the opportunity to carry out his orders and a bit more. Those two treasure hunters' bodies were still where they died. Naruto gathered them outside. He would loot them later when he had finished with the seal. He moved through the pyramid and finally arrived at the sealed door on the higher floor.
He sat down and meditated, concentrating on gathering the Force around him and recalling the steps of dispelling the seal. When he was ready, he got up from his sitting position before chanting arcane words in the Sith's tongue and gesturing his hand in a specific manner. Soon, the seal responded by glowing in blue light and slowly fading as Naruto continued his chanting.
When it faded completely, the door opened. Naruto only smiled. This was a big step forward for him. Now he could use Sith's magic, a powerful art. In any case, with the door opened, he could continue with his second objective: search for something valuable and take it, and he would have done just that if he had not felt the dark aura leaking out of the door as soon as it was opened.
Something was locked on the upper floors, but what was it? Was it some sort of dangerous weapons? An experimental darkside creature? A thousand-year-old artifact? Or worse Bane's or Sith Emperor's tomb? Whatever the case, he could not go back. If he went back empty handed again, his master would kill him for sure this time. So he mustered his courage and ventured into the upper floors.
But as soon as he stepped passed the door, his torch went out. He tried to ignite the new one, but no matter how hard he tried, the light did not ignite. Left with no choice, he used the Force to guide him through this dark place. He closed his eyes and let the Force be his guide. Soon he walked on further without hitting anything.
With each step he took, the presence of the dark aura became stronger and stronger. Yet he was able to resist his urge to run and force himself to walk on. His destination? The heart of the hornets' nest, the source of this dark aura.
It was the source that caused his torch to extinguish and, without a proper light to see his surroundings, he could not search this place for anything valuable. He must get rid of this dark presence to be able to search this place.
He concentrated, trying to pinpoint where this aura came from. Soon he found his answer. It was coming from the top of this pyramid academy. His hope of this situation being just some small fuss was crushed. If it came from the highest part of the pyramid, then it must have great importance and be guarded by something, maybe traps or creatures or, worse, the ghost of the two dark lords; well, just one of them anyway. He took a deep breath before he went on with the Force as his guide.
He arrived at yet another sealed door, and he could feel that behind this very door was something strong, the pure darkside power. He sat down and prepared himself to dispel the door's enchantment once again, but, quite abruptly, the door opened on its own.
Naruto got up as fast as he could and placed his hand on his dagger. He waited until the door had fully opened before he lowered his hand from the weapon. He had a bad feeling about this, he really did, but there were no other choices. He could feel the power of the dark side from within the room ahead, the strongest he had ever felt it in his life. Again, he never sensed his master at her full power, so he might yet find Force users stronger than his master in the future.
He walked past the stone gate and into the top of the pyramid. On the way, he chuckled.
'Here I am about to enter the highest point of this once glory place, yet it feels as if I am about to enter the lowest abyss of the darkside; what an irony,' he thought.
'Live as long as I have, and this is nothing. Still, I would say be careful. Even though I am an immortal who could fix you up that doesn't m-' Kurama was interrupted by Naruto.
'Yeah, yeah, you couldn't fix me up if I was too damaged. My body isn't ready for your full power. If I got hit in the heart or seal, none of your chakra will come to me. Blah blah blah. You've said all those things a million times,' Naruto said.
'And I won't stop until I get out of here,' Kurama concluded. Naruto only sighed as a response.
He walked on until he was in a more open space, a big room of some sort. He used his Force to scan the room. This was a big, empty room with only a chair, no, not a chair, a throne lying at the end of this hall.
Wait, on the throne there was something. It reeked of darkside. It had some trace of Midi-chlorians left on it, but without life. It was a corpse, but of who?
"Of me," a voice suddenly boomed. Before Naruto could react, a red specter that was Vitiate emerged from the corpse and leaped at him. As the ghost went into his body, he screamed out in pain and slowly crumbled to unconsciousness.
xxx
Naruto opened his eyes. He was on his knees in his sewer Mindscape, and he was not alone. He turned around, there stood the Sith Emperor in his full glory from back during the highest peak of his Sith Empire.
"I must say I am impressed again, boy. Most peoples' minds were nothing but scraps of memories and emotions stitched together, yours, on the other hand, manifested into something more… touchable," the Sith Emperor said, and he slowly walked toward Naruto. "Alas, I must take your body as my own now. It is a shame really. You could be made into a prominent disciple."
"But I thought you were 'truly' dead," Naruto replied in shock.
"And that I am, but that did not prevent me from possessing another. The reason most Sith give up hope of continuing their ambition by themselves after their demise is because of the body issue. No bodies can be as fit as our original body and most of our ownMidi-chlorians are lost upon death."He paused for a while as he looked around the place then talked again.
"I, on the other hand, still have my body, and my Midi-chlorians hibernated within it. All I needed was a host to possess then i will processe to get off world. After that I will need to 'persuade' some Force users to come with me here and resurrect my body. After that I believe you can guess what come next, mister Uzumaki,"the Emperor said, and he finally stopped before the kneeling Naruto.
"Then why all the apprentice crap? Why not just possess me at that moment?" Naruto asked again, eyeing the Emperor.
"…you are stalling me for some reason," the pureblood Sith said as he leaned his head down to Naruto's level. Naruto continued to stare further, but now with little worry. "But it matters not. Now that I am in here,whatever you do is pointless. I now possess this body. Once the possessor possesses the one with the weaker will, they will take over the victim's body completely. While you certainly have a certain amount of will to still be conscious, I doubt it will take long before it is pushed back and lets me take over," the Emperor explained as he continued to face Naruto.
"Now for your answer, I DID want you as my apprentice to help me in my resurrection. But after a certain amount of consideration, I think Lady XoXaan leashed you too much. You would be too loyal to her and not to me, and I do not want that kind of follower. So I decided to go with the second option:possessing you." He finished and drew his face away from Naruto.
"So now that that is over, how about you be a good boy, and let me end this quickly," Vitiate said maliciously.
Naruto, however, only smirked.
"What are you smiling about, boy?"Vitiate asked in surprise.
"How funny it is that you thought you could beat me in my own mind, Corpse-Emperor," Naruto mocked.
"What make you think you cou-"But the Emperor did not get to finish his sentence.
"Kurama!" Naruto shouted.
"Ah!" a demonic voice shouted in reply from the shadows. Soon Naruto was covered in red chakra and punching the Sith Emperor before he could react.
"What?! Impossible! My will should overwhelm yours! Your mind should be scrambling to pieces right now!" Vitiate exclaimed as he struggled to get up.
"Well, let's just say I have a little helper," Naruto said with a much wider smirk, cracking his knuckles. "Not to mention this is my mind! I am in charge here." As Naruto said this the appearance of Vitiate slowly became more deranged and caused the Emperor to panic. "This is my turf! And no one, not a single living or undead being in this galaxy, that can beat me here. Because." Naruto raised his hand once again while Vitiate continued to scramble.
"This." He turned his hand into a fist.
"Is." He raised his fist high.
"MY!" The Emperor, now deranged to the point that he resembled the walking dead, brought one of his arms up, trying to use the Force against Naruto, only to discover that it did not work.
"MIND!" As the last word was spoken, Naruto delivered his punch.
xxx
The specter form of Vitiate flew out of Naruto's body at high speed and was sent back into the corpse on the throne. Naruto began to regain consciousness. As he opened his eyes, he heard another voice.
"Hmm, I am not surprised that you would be lured into this trap, but I did not expect you to win against Vitiate." Naruto froze at that voice. It was Bane's voice.
'Kurama!' Naruto shouted in his head.
'Dammit! This is more than it's worth!' Kurama replied, while sending his chakra to Naruto.
Naruto kicked himself back up and got into position with his weapon ready. He did not know if he could harm ghosts or not, with or without Kurama's chakra, but he was for sure not going to stand still while another dark lord attacked him. But rather than leaping at him like Vitiate did, Bane simply stood at the entry, his arms crossed and staring at Naruto in silence.
"You, you're not a normal human, are you? And I'm not just talking about being a hybrid," Bane said, but Naruto did not reply, though the answer was obvious. His eyes had the pupils of a canine, his whisker marks on his face grew thicker, and his teeth sharpened. He was now in his first stage of using Kurama's chakra. [4]
"Damm that Corpse Emperor. It seems I can not, by any means, convince you to defect from your master anymore," Bane said, but there was still no reaction from Naruto besides continuing to be in a defensive stance.
"You do not need to worry. I'd rather not harm you after that display. I am a ghost. My options for fighting you are limited, and not to mention that, if you could outmatch that Corpse Emperor, then you may outmatch me. So rest easy, I will not attack," Bane said. Naruto continued to be on guard for a while before finally lowering his guard.
"Why are you here?" Naruto finally asked as some his features turned back to normal.
"To see how you would handle the Corpse Emperor. I knew you had something special about you, but truth be told, I did not expect what I just saw," Bane answered.
"You are not here to convince me to be your apprentice?" Naruto asked. Bane deadpanned Naruto.
"Do not give yourself too much credit, boy. After you revealed that you are loyal to Lady XoXaan, it didn't take me long to figure out that she had leashed you completely. Convincing you further would be a waste of time," Bane answered. "But there was another reason." Naruto raised one of his eyebrows in surprise.
"What would that be?" he asked.
"The way of Sith that the dark lady is teaching you was a way of Sith thousands of years ago. It was the same way that brought our order down so many times and never truly won against the Jedi. That way needed to go. When I was alive, I invented the new code for the Sith. 'The Rule of Two', I named it. One master, one apprentice." At this point Naruto only stared at Bane.
"This code was simple. There will only be two true Sith, one master, one apprentice. The rest are just your agents. The Force is like poison, boy. If it is poured into too many cups, it loses its potency until it becomes so diluted it is nothing but an irritant. The cups here are the actual Sith members. The less you have, the better."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Naruto asked.
"Because I care about the Sith Order."
At that moment, Naruto thought he was seeing an illusion. Darth Bane, a man who slaughtered the old Sith Order and created his own Sith, a man who donned the living parasitic Orbalisk armor and lived, and a man who had done many despicable things in his life, was looking…thoughtful.
"Did you ever see what Kaan did to the Sith order? If you did, then you would understand. Remember this well, boy. The old Sith will only lead our order to ruin," Bane finished and finally disappeared. Naruto himself was…shocked to say the least. These two days had been eventful for him, truly.
Suddenly, he heard a faint sound of a water drop falling. Followed by another drop. Naruto followed the trail of the sound…behind the throne with great caution. As Naruto passed by the throne, he spotted the mummified body of Vitiate sitting on the throne holding a Sith Holocron in his hand. Naruto walked past, behind the throne as fast as he could and into another smaller room behind it.
Now with the dark Force power lowered, maybe he could light up this place. He got out his torch and ignited it. With the light, he was able to see what was in the room. Artifacts, lot of them.
The whole room was filled with dusted artifacts and display cases, which contained artifacts as well. Naruto was amazed. There were so many things. Weapons, talismans, books, jewelry, and many other things that he could not take in. But as he explored the large display of darkside history, something caught his eyes.
At the end of the display room was an ax. It was wrapped with white fabric, or was. It was now red, soaked with blood colored liquid to the point where it dripped some onto the ground. That would explain the sound of water dripping he heard earlier. Naruto approached the ax. [5]
As he got closer, he began to smell blood, very fresh blood, and it was coming from the ax. Finally, when he was in front of the ax, he observed it more closely. The handle was the only part that was not covered, and there was something written on it in Sith. Luckily, Naruto had learned enough Sith to understand it. It said,
'Blooded Ax. Made for Adas, the Sith'ari'
After reading it, Naruto nearly fainted.
xxx
[1] He a Sith species, in case you didn't know.
[2] ONE of the reasons they take on an apprentice. This chapter is a bit too philosophical I must admit.
[3] There are some source materials that suggested that while Bane is ruthless and brutal, if there are one thing he ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT it's Sith order, and no the 'source material' is not wikia.
[4] 'Hybrid' is a word used for a crossed-species individual in SW universe.
[5] 'Ax' is another word for axe, in case you didn't know.
Character profile:
Name: Tenebrae; birth name. Vitiate, Lord; Sith name. Sith Emperor; title.
Species: Sith (Unknown caste)
Gender: Male
Sexual orientation: Unknown
Age: roughly, 5060 years old
Homeworld: Nathema (Medriaas; old name).
Allegiance: Sith (Sith Empire)
Profession: Sith Master/Emperor/Ghost
Birth date: 5113 B.B.Y.
Religion: Sith
Relationships: Dramath, father. Marka Ragnos, leader. Tempest (Emperor's Wrath or Wrath), follower. Revan; Darth, adversary.
Appearance: Unknown, lost due to Emperor change bodies many times. Originally, Sith species body.
Bio: Born as an illegitimate son of his homeworld's Sith lord and a poor farmer woman, Vitiate's life as Sith began when he was ten when he murdered his parents, first his stepfather, then his mother, and eventually his real father. After that he gathered legion of followers on his homeworld, using his great power. He came to Marka Ragnos at the age of thirteen and requested an apprenticeship. Ragnos turned him down but still recognized his power and granted him the right to his world and title 'Lord Vitiate'.
Throughout the history of Ragnos's, and eventually Naga Sadow's, Sith, Vitiate remained distant until the Sith was finally defeated by Jedi. At that time, Vitiate used people's fear and seized control over the Empire. After using thousands of Sith to gain his immortality and power, he took whatever was left of the Empire and routed them into Unknown Regions of the galaxy, where he began rebuilding his empire.
In year 3681 B.B.Y., Emperor and his Empire finally resurface and invade the known galaxy. The conflict, which includes several wars and a cold war, spanned over several decades, but the Jedi managed to kill the Emperor. However, his essence lived on over Yavin 4. After the resurface and defeat of Darth Revan, the Emperor gained enough power to come back and continue his true plan to eradicate all life as a means to 'peace'.
After this the events of what happened next became unclear and needed further research. What is known so far is that Emperor was later forced to safeguard his essence by putting it into holocron and waiting for someone to give him a new body and help him perform his immortality ritual again. [1]
[1] It is still unclear how the Emperor actually 'died', because SWTOR, Star Wars: The Old Republic game, is still expanding its lore with expansions.
